I'm going to start doing HIIT today actually.

I'll be running on a track and keeping any sort of time will be kind of difficult I think.

Its a normal high-school type track, oval, 1/4 mile I think.

If I were to sprint the straights, run one of the turns, and walk one of the turns, would that be as effective?

..__________
/........S........\
|W..............R|
\_____S_____/

W-Walk, S-Sprint, R-Run

I guess I'd be sprinting about a 10, running 5-8, and walking briskly around a 2.

Would do this for no more then 20 minutes. This still an effective way of doing a HIIT?

Also, what should I eat before/afterwards?

you will have to try it and see if you can handle it. It is usually a good idea for beginners to have more time with jogging or walking than actual sprinting.

I sprinted in High School for track and I'm not in entirely horrible shape so hopefully something like this shouldnt be hard for me to keep up with.

Obviously I can change the intensity of the run after I start running to make sure I get through the 20 minutes.

yeah.. trial and error, that is your best bet on how to figure out what intensity for how long etc.

Would doing HIIT and some abs work be over-training my body?

As it is now, Monday/Wednesday/Friday is my weight lifting, and I'd like to do HIIT on Tuesday/Thursday and if I could do abs the same days and have the weekend as a cooldown recover period.

Would this be too much?

Doesn't have to be. depends how much you can take. Try it and see.
Why not work your abs with the rest of your body while doing lifting?

Well its basically because the guy that I work out with on M/W/F is kind of... well stupid anal about how a workout is performed. And personally I dont think he does half of it correctly. I'm actually in the process of double checking the way he is telling me to lift and the way its properly done just so I dont get early bad habits.

I'm working with him for now because its free weights and I just go along with him. The extra stuff, HIIT and doing abs, he doesnt even do. Its just weights. I'm more interested in losing my fat and getting a little more toned then he is.

so how do you lift? what does your routine look like, and what is his advice?

I just posted my routine in I hope the right spot for some critiquing
http://training.fitness.com/weight-t...ing-32750.html

He does things a little differently then I do, like taking 5-10 minute rests between lifts. Which makes me a little upset because I think personally for some muscle mass you lift and rest for like a minute or two then go at it again.

He also cheats, on almost every lift he does. I want to do them properly and then he tells me how to do things correctly but I cant trust him seeing as he cheats.

I just got finished with my first HIIT routine about a half hour ago. I havent felt my chest wanting to explode this much in years.

I learned im a little more out of shape then I thought. That made things a little harder. I ended up doing about a 7 on sprints 4 on runs and easily 1s on the walking. It was hard to force myself to run as hard as I could on the straights but I pushed through that sucker.

All in all this will be a great routine once I can complete it full strength without reducing my intensity!

hey kerkain,

I do almost the same thing as you do except that I sprint half of the curve plus the straight then walk the other half of the curve. I do this cycle 8 times. I track my intensity using an HR monitor. I try to bring my HR up to 90-95% on the sprints then bring it down to 60-65% when I walk.
I suggest you purchase a cheap HRM to know how much you're pushing your body. Very useful when you run on a track. After all, HIIT's basic principle is to get your HR as high as you possibly can and resting to get it down again for another cycle.